What’s an institutional repository?

An institutional repository (IR) brings together all of a University's research under one umbrella with an aim to preserve and provide access to that research. An IR can be an archive for working papers, published articles, conference papers, creative works, editorials, essays and research data. Presentations, theses, dissertations and other works not published elsewhere can also be published in an IR, as can University documents, historical records, organizational materials and photographs.

What is eCommons?

eCommons is the University of Dayton’s open-access institutional repository. A service of the University Libraries for faculty, staff and students, it showcases the University community’s diverse scholarly research, professional knowledge and other digital content, both new and historic, both to elevate the University’s research profile and advance scholarship worldwide.

eCommons is part of Digital Commons, an international network of hundreds of institutional repositories hosted by bepress (Berkeley Electronic Press).

What is the role of the University of Dayton Libraries?

University Libraries faculty and staff oversee the structure and content in eCommons, providing a wide range of services including copyright clearance, permission acquisition, digitization, data entry and collection design.

How does it benefit me to have my work in eCommons?

Archiving scholarly and professional work in an open-access institutional repository makes a person’s work highly discoverable and available for download worldwide. eCommons and its companion program, SelectedWorks, provide a dashboard feature that shows which papers have been downloaded, how many times, from where (including the institution or corporations), and what sites referred readers to the works. The increased discoverability through Google, Google Scholar, Bing and other search engines can increase citations and encourage collaboration on future research.

What can I put into the repository?

You can submit articles, manuscripts, book chapters, data sets, technical reports, patent materials, images, working papers, conference papers, audio files, video files and more in eCommons. Once it is in the IR, it can be easily collected to your SelectedWorks page.

How can I submit/contribute to the repository?

Contact your library liaison or send an email to ecommons@udayton.edu with the citation information for the works you’d like to contribute. The eCommons staff will assess your archiving rights and prepare a report with information about which versions of your work can be made available in eCommons. Once you provide the works, University Libraries staff handle the rest.

Are other universities doing this?

Yes. Many universities have well-established institutional repositories. You can view a list of institutions in the Digital Commons network here. Many other institutions also have repositories on other platforms.

What about copyright and intellectual property issues?

University Libraries staff conduct diligent copyright compliance research before posting any item in eCommons. If content in the repository is discovered to be out of compliance, we withdraw it.

Should I submit my manuscript to eCommons before it’s published?

Many publishers only accept research that has not been previously published. If you plan to submit your paper to a peer-reviewed journal, you may be better served to wait until the paper is published to add your manuscript to eCommons. If the publisher requires an embargo on accepted manuscripts, eCommons staff can set an embargo to expire on the appropriate date.

Can I withdraw materials I submitted?

Generally, no. The IR is meant to be a permanent record of the University’s scholarly output. However, if extenuating circumstances support the removal of an item, the University Libraries will consider them.

How do people cite items in eCommons?

eCommons provides a recommended citation for each item in the repository. This citation is provided at the bottom of each item’s metadata page as well as on the downloaded item’s cover sheet. If an item was previously published in a journal, book or other medium, the original citation information appears in the item’s metadata.